I have a very important update on the election. But first, I want to be clear -- Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit organization and therefore does not support or oppose any candidate for office.
That said, I feel I must address a situation that is important to every American. We have witnessed media "spin" or "silence" on all of the issues we are fighting to defend - perhaps especially on ballot initiatives that would preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
+ + We the people have a right to know
Now the Los Angeles Times is refusing to release a video in its possession that reportedly shows Barack Obama toasting Rashid Khalidi-a mouthpiece for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who espouses violent anti-Israel views.
In the toast, Obama is said to speak of his long friendship with Khalidi. One speaker evidently compares Israeli "Zionists" to Osama Bin Laden.
Voters deserve to confirm or deny this report with their own eyes! Only then can they decide what to believe about the media reports on the LA Times video.
There are many unanswered questions presented by this video. Perhaps the story is exaggerated. Perhaps it is true. Either way, we deserve to know.
No matter which candidate you support for president, you're entitled to full disclosure on where the candidates stand on key issues. During this year's election cycle the media has cast aside all pretense of objectivity.
They have become shameless shills for political candidates they support and have railed against ballot initiatives they oppose. The LA Times is among the worst offenders.
I believe this is a question the American people deserve to have answered - and that's why the LA Times must release this video!
+ + Urgent Action -- Tell the Times to release the video
I'm asking you to contact the LA Times today and demand that this video be released:
Liberty Counsel, with offices in Florida, Virginia and Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family.
Liberty Counsel . PO Box 540774 . Orlando, FL 32854 . 800-671-1776 Obama IS a socialist. That is a fact.
nm
I did not bring up Obama. The fact is
we don't need that promise from him as we are already doing it, and have been for years! Perhaps our older retired women will catch onto the new fertility efforts and start getting their pay raises, too!
Obama is the real deal! lol
I've watched every debate in the primaries and in the champaign, every interview on CNN, watched the interview after interview and heard from so many polical analysts most than I ever have in my life about an election this year. I have always been a Rep from the day I was born 46 years ago, but this is the first time in my life I am voting Dem for Obama. There is no question he is going to make more of a difference, and just maybe, our jobs could be saved and not outsourced by his tax break to companies who DO NOT outsource! Obama 08! =)
Obama's real plan
What he hasn't bothered to tell all his lame followers is if he allows the Bush tax cuts to expire in a few years, this is equal to a tax increase on the middle class. Obama knows most of his followers don't even know what the real Bush tax cuts mean nor what it will mean for them when and if they are allowed to expire.
He hopes no one looks too closely at this. Not only does he want that to expire, which he has already said he will not vote to continue, back in March he actually tried to shorten that so taxes could begin for those making 31k-63K. He knows most of you don't understand any of this for obvious reasons but for those of us who do pay attention, wake up! You will not be getting off the hook paying taxes no matter how much that sounds wonderful. If it sounds too good to be true, it will be.
As a matter of fact, I do know what Mrs. Obama meant...
all you have to do is do a little research. Read the papers she has written. She was dead serious in what she said and she meant it..and the only reason she is proud of America now is her husband is running for President. People need to try to see through the spin. She has had the same feelings for years, they run deep, in she AND her husband. That is why they stayed in Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years, unless you buy the ridiculous story that they went there for 20 years and never heard a "sermon like that." Anybody who really believes that...I have 10 acres of prime real estate (in a Louisianna swamp) I would like to talk to them about.
Laura Bush is just a nice person and would not say anything negative about anyone if her life depended on it. She never said a bad thing about the people who have said very mean, hateful, personal things about her family. I would not expect her to say anything else.
Good grief...John Edwards. Now there is someone to make a quote about two Americas. Any idea what size house he lives in? Gets $300 haircuts? Made millions suing people and channeling dead kids to do it? He is as bad as the people he points fingers at. And he came from poor folks. He should KNOW better. I don't see him living in a smaller house, driving a smaller car, rebuilding New Orleans or anything else with his millions. Yet has the gall to point fingers at corporate America and people BUY that false sincerity. Sheesh!!
Yes, there are bigots. There are black bigots, white bigots, red and yellow bigots. Bigots come from all races. Racists come from all races.
I am not ashamed, nor have I ever been ashamed, to be an American. It is not the country's fault some goofballs live in it. Just like it is not the black race's fault that some of theirs are bigots and racists. Just like it is not every Caucasian's fault that slaves were held 200 years ago, especially Caucasians living now. That needs to be put to rest and the chip needs to come off the shoulders. It would serve us all well to remember that while some Caucasians did enslave people, other Caucasians stepped up and went to war, fought and died in partial reason to abolish said slavery. And if those said Caucasians had not stepped up, it would not have happened. And lest we forget one little tidbit of information...slavery was in existence long before America was. And who did the Dutch traders buy said slaves from? Other blacks who enslaved their own people. All that being said, slavery IS wrong, and thousands of Caucasians fought died to abolish it. So can we please move on?
As to religion...again, good grief! This country was founded by people seeking religious freedom. This is the most "religiously free" country on the face of the earth. The only religion discriminated against in this country is Christianity. Muslims can do whatever they want, wear whatever they want, practice openly, even in school. Christians can't. Buddhists can...Christians can't. And "pure hatred" for anyone who is not in their club...there are offshoots of ANY religion who are kooks. And there are many fewer hate mongers that call themselves "Christian" and give us all a bad name...than there are in other religions. Islam sees no way but their way. They may say otherwise, but their Koran tells a different story. When was the last time Christians went to war for religion? As far as I know, THIS country has NEVER gone to war over religion. And as to the Crusades, yes, that was done in the name of religion. But what people also conveniently forget why...because Muslims were running across Europe killing everyone in their path who did not convert, and aimed to set up shop in Jerusalem, and slaughter as many Christians as they could on the way. Back in the day Christians did not feel like they could let that happen. I sympathize.
All that being said...Obama's problem is not that he is black, although if he is not elected that is what the racists will say. Just like Hillary's people are saying she did not get the nomination because she is a woman. Excuses, excuses, excuses. I would have the same problem with Obama if he were red, yellow, or green for that matter. I don't believe him, I don't trust him. I don't think he has enough experience and the people advising him do not make me feel any better about it. If you look at his voting record, he is one of the most liberal senators, if not THE most liberal. Now he is trying to move to the middle because he wants to be elected. You do not change your whole life-long way of thinking overnight.
Friend, as long as there are human beings there are going to be bigots. There are going to be racists. You will not change that. These are the people who don't have the ambition or drive to work to get ahead and want to blame someone else for their lot in life...whether it is pity me because I am black, pity me because I am poor and white, pity me because the rich people have all that money and I have nothing, and on and on an on and on. You either rise above it or you wallow in it. Nowadays minorities do have it over Caucasians, so the chip really should come off. So we have affirmative action for poor white kids? Uh...no. Do we have special college programs for poor white kids?Uh....no.
When was the last time you had a person of color thank you for your great grandfather dying at Gettysburg? When have you EVER heard that? When have you ever heard one of the black politicians of today say ANYthing about whites during the civil war being willing to split their country and die on the battlefield in part to emancipate slaves and abolish slavery? I personally have yet to hear it. They want to talk about the whites who enslaved them, but they sure don't want to talk about the whites who died to set them free. Now you tell me...is that or is that not racist?
That being said...I think a person should help their fellow man and everyone should have an equal shot, no matter WHAT their color is. And that includes...gasp...caucasians.
Another thing you might do...check your history. The Democratic Party, during the civil war, right after it, up until 1964 tried its dead level best to keep black people from being able to vote. Not until the voting rights act of 1964 were all restrictions lifted. Lyndon Baines Johnson said, as he signed it into law: "We (Democrats) may have lost the south forever (meaning the votes of southern white Democrats...now there is/was a racist group). But, the Democrats had to think fast about how to rebuild the base...and how do they do that? Well, enter Lyndon Baines Johnson and the War on Poverty....and entitlement programs out the kazoo. And there was born the new Democratic base to take over for the old one...and the fact that the Democratic party had been the ones with the foot on the neck of black people for 100 years was forgotten.
How many black people today do you think even KNOW that? I would venture not many, as it is no longer taught in school and revisionist history has taken over.
All that being said...I think it is time to put that away and not continue to hold it over the head of every American, especially since the wrong was righted by Caucasian folks on civil war battlefields and the Republicans (Abe Lincoln was one) then and right up until the voting rights act of 1964 hammered at the Democrats until they gave in. But you don't hear much about that anymore do you? No,not a peep. All you hear about is racist America, and most folks think Republicans were responsible all along, which is a bold-faced lie. History does not lie. Check it out.
That is why I LOVE this country and her people, black and white, yellow and red. Because for all the griping, all the poor pitiful me's, all the excuses, there are those who are still willing to put their lives on the line for this country and her people. God bless them, I say. They are the fabric which holds us together. God forbid that at least some of us will always remember that and be grateful.
Yes, I love my country. I am proud of her history, her start, and my heritage. My country has never disappointed me, though some of my fellow citizens certainly have and continue to.
And a state had a private citizen investigated because of a question he asked a presidential candidate. That does not alarm you???? The Patriot Act alarms liberals but this DOES NOT???
That is soooo telling.
Exactly. The real Obama himself. I thought Powell
was to be picked for something by Obama since Powell endorsed Obama. Waiting to see where Oprah fits in this too. Already picking shady characters for his team and more liberals. Partisanship, my ....
Did you hear the real reason why Obama
not our country, but for his kids to have much more than he had. He wanted his kids and ours to have a better life. Sure, nothing wrong with that, but it was not for you or me, economy, "where is my check in the mail?", keeping our country safe, and among many other things.
Doesn't change the fact....Obama is a socialist....
and you are condoning trampling all over someone's civil rights because they asked a question and Obama answered it honestly. Why would that upset you so much? Ohhbaamaaa is socialist, he said he was in his answer, explained it very clearly. So you should just embrace his socialism and stop shooting the messenger, right?
Slurs? Unfounded accusations? You mean like doing a law enforcement background check on someone for asking a question?
The more McCain/Palin's ratings are going up, the more the democrats are panicking, and the attacks about Palin are becoming more vicious - AND nobody is posting anything positive about Obama, like "I'm really excited about his health care plan or his energy plan or his housing fix plan or 100 other reasons we should be voting for someone. No, nothing positive about him...AND I'm not even hearing anything negative against McCain's plan. It's just vicious rumors, lies, and conjectures about Sarah Palin. Let's see. I've heard she hunts, she's for killing innocent soldiers and civilians in Iraq, she has a tanning bed, her daughter's pregnant, she didn't answer questions the way you would answer them (which in all fairness to her the interview was a bait & trap situation - especially when half the country was asking "what part is he asking her about?"). So for all those who say she didn't get it, neither did half the country (but those must be the people who cling to their guns and religion). Let's see...what else. She's selling her baby on e-bay, the father of her daughter's baby is skum, she believes in God, etc, etc. Oh yes, the best one was someone didn't like her because she is pretty and was in a beauty pagent (although I can't decide whether that is the best or that someone believes she was selling her baby on e-bay). Yet you refuse to list any of her good qualities like she cut out pork spending, she balanced the budget, she stands up to the big guy, she gave refunds to all Alaskan citizens who paid too much in money to the oil executives, she's smart about energy and she's for drilling here in the states (which will cut our gas and oil prices in half), and the numerous other good things she has done. I've heard she's not experienced (but you won't admit that neither is Obama). Then of course when someone posts something positive about her you jump down their backs and are just really nasty. And then what kind of comments do I hear about McCain? He doesn't use the computer (someone was actually complaining about him not sending out emails himself on September 11th), and someone else was making fun of him because he doesn't comb his hair. I hear that and think that there are people who have small minds. He can't do either because he was beaten without mercy and he can't lift his arms up to do these activities (and you have the audacity to make fun of him for that?) But you know what? At least he can still put his hand over his heart when the pledge of allegience is being said and the national anthem is being played.
You know, if your going to say something negative about someone at least have a comeback with something negative that is halfway intelligent and counter it with something positive from the candidate you support.
And for petes sake, use John McCain's real name, not the phony acronyms you like to use. He was in a POW camp for five years beaten til near death every day. He's earned the respect to at least call him by his real name. Whether or not you hate him so much, he is not Bush and he is not more of the same. His policies and voting record proves differently. You can't say he voted the same as Bush because Bush doesn't vote. Anything that's been voted on that you want to blame Bush for you need to take a look at the democrat congress. Their the ones voting, and its the democrats who have stopped the impeachment hearing for Bush. Why???? McCain's policies, health care plan, his reform plan, his economy plan, and everything else about what he will do when he becomes president is different than what Bush has done. Bush is Bush, McCain is McCain. If anyone is to be compared to Bush it would be Obama because the people who are directing Bush are also the same group that is directing Obama.
So, can we please be civilized adults, and come up with hard facts before accusing one candidate of something that is obviously false. Stick to issues and no rumors.
Thanks to Obama? Get Real. He didn't send jobs overseas....
Most MT companies will not offshore work. Most hospitals and large clinics DEMAND that their work not be sent overseas. Unfortunately, you have those that LIE and I worked for an MT company that sent overload work to India. It was indeed, unfortunate, as the quality was horrible. But, I've trained plenty of MTs who were just as bad with "supposed" experience. They could pass a test, they just couldn't work accurately consistently. I blame that on the "production pay system." I learned MT when they used to respect you and paid you by the hour. There was no demand on HOW MUCH as long as it was COMPLETELY accurate.
Universal health care and President Obama's real plan -
I see again that everyone is talking about President Obama's plan for universal health care and I once again feel the need to distinguish between universal health care and what the plan is that President Obama has campaigned for. I have copied and pasted part of the web page, but also included the link at the bottom of this for you to see the whole plan.
President Obama does not ask for universal health care where the government is in charge - he just wants the government to ensure that everyone has access to medical care and health insurance. Why is it so difficult to understand that this is not socialized medicine, government run healthcare, or universal coverage plans?
Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan
On health care reform, the American people are too often offered two extremes - government-run health care with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe both of these extremes are wrong, and that’s why they’ve proposed a plan that strengthens employer coverage, makes insurance companies accountable and ensures patient choice of doctor and care without government interference.
The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing health care system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan. Under the Obama-Biden plan, patients will be able to make health care decisions with their doctors, instead of being blocked by insurance company bureaucrats.
Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year.
If you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of new, affordable health insurance options.
that liberals get a HUGE PASS when it comes to verbal spillage. I've heard some of the most hateful things come out of Howard Dean and all we hear about is what Karl Rove said, and a lot of it was taken out of context. He didn't say ALL Democrats, he said SOME liberals, i.e. Move On.Org and George Soros. There WERE groups demonstrating against the war in Afghanistan. That was a fact. And how does the Democratic party get by with a former KKK member (Byrd)? That wouldn't be allowed for 2 seconds on the Republican side.
You should try to relax. Music always helps me. Try this. LOL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBk32JsV9l8
Reality
You obviously saw Senator John Ensign (R-NV) on Meet The Press this morning along with Congressman Barney Frank (not Barney Fife). Ensign says that Frank is "fearmongering" and says that state budgets are "bloated" and that we should be "cutting back."
Well, how's your state doing, Senator Ensign? The state of Nevada has to cut 38% from its state budget. The Nevada schools are facing a 15% cut. Outpatient oncology services at University Medical Center in Las Vegas have CLOSED because of state Medicaid cuts. If you're lucky, maybe your gynecologic oncologist will open a chemotherapy center in his clinic's storage room like Dr. Nick Spirtos did.
That's only one example. Do yourself a favor and read the article. There are plenty more examples in plenty of other states. The idea that states need to "cut back" in the midst of a recession is absolutely idiotic and so is Senator Ensign.
Reality?
The majority of voters in the United States have dismissed your idea of reality and voted against it. Maybe it is you who needs to get a cup of coffee and join the majority.
This is reality Reality
Reality and Glenn Beck have nothing to do with each other.
You are the one not dealing in reality
there's so many wrong statements in your post I wouldn't know where to begin in rebutting them... I pity you and your pessimistic outlook on our country. You are one very bitter and jaded person. Just like Cindy Sheehan who has to blame someone else for her life's problems. I'm sorry her mother had a stroke, and I hope that everything is okay, but I think Cindy Sheehan needs to take this as a sign to take care of her family that is living...which I'm glad she is doing right now for the sake of her mother.
Reality check
You just cannot stay off this board can you? Don't you get it? We don't want to debate with you. We are just as set in our beliefs as you are in yours. No one here is interested in anything you have to say, so please, get a life or at least stay on your own board.
For Reality Check. sm
I think my post did sound a little hateful. I am sure you are a very nice person. You see, this is a country divided, and I am certain I am not the only one on this board, to feel that GWB has had a lot to do with that. Like I said, I am sure you are a nice person. However, this is a country divided, nothing will make me change my mind about this administration. I fear for either party that gets in next time, if it is a democrat, they cannot hardly get ahead because of the blunders made by the current administration. In a nutshell, I sincerely feel like this country has never been more divided, and perhaps that is why the moderators decided to split the two boards to begin with. Post all you want, you will get no more nasty responses for me. I however will feel at liberty to post jokes when I feel like it. I lurk on the conservative board, but do not post. There are many right-winged jokes and cartoons over there and I do not post my opinion - because that is their board.
Reality check.
October 2001 to February 2003. That’s how long it took to sell the war to Congress, democrats and republicans alike, and to the American public, according to Colonel Sam Gardiner (USAF, Ret.). Not some left-wing wacko. Just a high-rank retired Air Force colonel who conducted a study.
A Strategy of Lies: How the White House Fed the Public a Steady Diet of Falsehoods
http://www.rense.com/general44/50.htm.
The power of propaganda. They bought it, hook, line and sinker. That was then and this is now, and what we know NOW is that Bush lied. No WMDs. No Iraq-sponsored terrorism. It's still about the oil.
BTW, there is a Bechtel-commissioned BTC pipeline in Georgia, "secured" by US troops, who also provide advisors and training to Georgia military. Russia doesn't like US-trained troops in its backyard either. You won't hear it on Fox, but Russia has not confined it's invasion to Ossetia. They targeted that pipeline 18 hours ago. Sometimes you follow the money. Other times, you follow the oil.
Fox News, YouTube, nohussein.org? Consider the source. Abortion is legal. The issue is choice. Some choose not to do it, others choose to exercise their right to choose. Those who do appreciate any politician who is willing to go to the mat to uphold Roe vs Wade. Unlikely to be reversed anytime soon and, in this election, far down on the list of priorities. Reality check #2.
No need to wonder what the colonel would have to say about that uranium since the issue was extensively scrutinized in his study.
It has been known for decades that Iraq had a reactor at Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center and a nuclear materials testing facility at Osiraq, damaged in a bombing by the Iranians in 1980 and disabled by Israeli air attacks in 1981 in an operation that was condemned by the US at the time since we were backing Saddam against Iran. Ten years later, these same facilities were completely destroyed by Americans in the 1991 Gulf War, 12 years before Bush sold his version of Gulf War II to the American public.
This would be the same 500 metric tons of reactor grade uranium (the kind used as fuel in producing clean electricity). It was NOT weapons grade uranium. Being well documented by the UN and the IAEA, this stash of uranium was legal and had been controlled and monitored in accordance with international law since the Gulf War. The uranium was removed from Iraq and transported to Canada to be used in their nuclear energy facilities. The inspections team found NO EVIDENCE of any yellowcake in Iraq dating from after 1991. So if the terrorists had managed to get their hands on it, the US would be held accountable since they destroyed the reactor, knew about the stock piles, returned to occupy Iraq in 2003, but were too busy killing Iraqis to bother with disposing of the uranium for 5 full years. No wonder they were keeping it a secret.
Speaking of yellowcake uranium and propaganda, back in January 2003, Bush accused Saddam of trying to buy it from Niger, based on Italian, British and French intelligence sources. Notice this occurred between October 2001 and February 2003, as stated in the previous post, when Bush was busy doing anything and everything he could to dupe the Congress and public into supporting his war. The polite word for this intelligence is “faulty.” A more accurate description would be forgery. The colonel talks about this too, but his study is a bit obscure and hard to locate. Google Niger uranium and Iraq and this link pops up in case anybody wants to read more about that one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_uranium_forgeries
As for the chemical and biological weapons used against his own people, that would be the Kurdish town of Halabja in March 1988, when 7000 civilians died and in 14 other Kurd villages. The reason we knew about those chemical and biological weapons is because the US sold them to Saddam to use against the Iranians (as did the UK, Germany, France and others). Check out the Senate committee's reports on US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual-Use Exports to Iraq from a 1992 report. Reagan and Bush Sr. sold Iraq anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs, botulism, germs similar to tuberculosis and pneumonia, Salmonella, E. coli, brucella melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium perfringens, which causes gas gangrene, to name a few.
From 1991 to 1998 UNSCOM inspected and scoured Iraq, accounting for some 95+% of the known agents before they left. Despite all the suspicions put forth by the Bush propaganda machine in 2003 and the best search efforts of the US since the occupation, no evidence of the remaining inventory has been uncovered.
Like it or not, abortion has been legal in the US for 35 years. The answer to your questions about choice is simple. It’s the mother’s body, not yours, not the government’s. Her choice. Nobody’s else’s. That is the law. The law does not force abortion for those who do not believe in it, nor does it prevent it for those who do. Morality can be legislated after the American theocracy has been established. Until then, it is about choice.
Bush’s contempt for the courts is no secret. They do not simply uphold law. They also interpret it and have discretionary authority to issue decisions and opinions. The constitution provides us with 3 executive branches for a reason. It’s called checks and balances. No candidate or president should be opposed to seeing that part of the constitution upheld. Running From Reality
If there was one pre-eminent characteristic of the Republican convention this week, it was the quality of deception. Words completely lost their meaning. Reality was turned upside down.
From the faux populist gibberish mouthed by speaker after speaker, you would never have known that the Republicans have been in power over the past several years and used that titanic power to lead the country to its present sorry state.
Summary On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes back. But his TV spot gives an oversimplified and misleading account of how Obama bought his own $1.6 million house in Chicago.
The ad says Chicago power broker Tony Rezko got "political favors" including "$14 million from taxpayers." But there's no evidence of any connection to the Obama home purchase. The $14 million was to build apartments for low-income seniors. Obama wrote a letter supporting the "worthy" project, but both men say Rezko didn't ask for the letter.
It says Rezko "purchased part of the property [Obama] couldn't afford." Rezko's wife did buy an adjoining tract but later sold the land at a profit. Obama paid market price for his home.
McCain launched the attack after Obama ran one capitalizing on McCain's inability to recall for an interviewer how many homes the McCains own. Obama's ad says it's seven. The best tally we've seen puts the figure at eight, counting all the apartments and homes owned by McCain's wife, Cindy, and various family trusts, for themselves and their children.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/154782
REALITY? Do you know who deregulated
xx
Not a break from reality,
but more a trance. Freaks me out. Thanks for the statements you posted. This is not a normal election, but more of a movement. Hope it will not be like it was in the 60's with riots going on. Getting more and more like the Book of Revelations. A person who will deceive the nations with persuasive language and have massive christ-like appeal and people will flock to him as he will promise false hope and world peace, but destroys everything. FREAKS ME OUT. He keeps changing his mind and now he and his campaign want to try to kill the expectations of what he has been stating for months. Beyond creepy. This is not your normal every four year election.
You need a dose of reality.
nm
EU reality check....
1. Member states in the EU all maintain their separate set of laws. Members of the EU Parliament are elected every 5 years by all citizens of the EU. It operates in much the same way as the US federal system.
2. Member states are responsible for their own defense. Many, but not all, are members of NATO (by choice). Nascent EU military forces (as opposed to separate national forces) have engaged in peacekeeping missions and humanitarian aid missions in Africa, the former Yugoslavia and in the Middle East.
3. Each member state maintains it's own legal system. EU laws are analogous to our US federal laws. No threat here. As a matter of fact, national sovereignty is stronger under this system than states' rights are in the US. EU law mainly relates to enforcement of treaties, the environment and fundamental rights of member states.
4. 15 of the 27 EU countries have adopted the euro....again, by choice: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. I hate to break this to you, but the Euro already is worth more than the US dollar (1 Euro = 1.2652 US dollars)....they must be doing something right.
5. The EU has PROGRESSIVE policy oversight on it's own agriculture, energy and infrastructure (as it should be) and is competitive in world markets based on the value of their currency...again, higher in value than the US dollar.
No need to "research" the NAU. I know what it is and I know what it is not. The NAU is a THEORETICAL region. It does not exist. There are no current government plans in Canada, the US or Mexico to form such an entity. NAFTA is the closest manifestation of the CONCEPT of an NAU.
Your version of the NAU is nothing more to me than a conspiracy theory...paranoia on a grand scale. I have a few questions for you. Ever heard of evolution. How about survival of the fittest? Do you believe in these concepts? Here's the deal. The world we live in now is not the same world your parents and grandparents grew up in...especially in terms of population and technology. The survival of the human race and of the nations depends upon their ability to adapt and CHANGE. IF (and I emphasize the word IF) there is a better economic or governing system around the evolutionary corner, then no amount of belly-aching and conspiracy theory spin is going to keep it at bay. PROGRESS HAPPENS. Reality check.........sm
So you don't need to research the NAU? I hope the sand will protect your little brain when all heck breaks loose.
The concept of the NAU has been actively pursued by our government (Bush) and the government of Canada and Mexico since 2005. Check it out.
The blueprint President Bush is following was laid out in a 2005 report entitled "Building a North American Community" published by the left-of-center Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR report connects the dots between the Bush administration's actual policy on illegal immigration and the drive to create the North American Union:
At their meeting in Waco, Texas, at the end of March 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin committed their governments to a path of cooperation and joint action. We welcome this important development and offer this report to add urgency and specific recommendations to strengthen their efforts.
What is the plan? Simple, erase the borders. The plan is contained in a "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" little noticed when President Bush and President Fox created it in March 2005:
In March 2005, the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States adopted a Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), establishing ministerial-level working groups to address key security and economic issues facing North America and setting a short deadline for reporting progress back to their governments. President Bush described the significance of the SPP as putting forward a common commitment "to markets and democracy, freedom and trade, and mutual prosperity and security." The policy framework articulated by the three leaders is a significant commitment that will benefit from broad discussion and advice. The Task Force is pleased to provide specific advice on how the partnership can be pursued and realized.
To that end, the Task Force proposes the creation by 2010 of a North American community to enhance security, prosperity, and opportunity. We propose a community based on the principle affirmed in the March 2005 Joint Statement of the three leaders that "our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary." Its boundaries will be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter within which the movement of people, products, and capital will be legal, orderly and safe. Its goal will be to guarantee a free, secure, just, and prosperous North America.
I cannot believe there are people living today who actually believe that there are not hidden agendas in our government and that "we the people" actually know what is going on.
Thank you for the dose of reality.
It seems people like to think in exponentials lately. 'Bush was the worst president in the history of time.' Obama will face 'the most daunting challenge in the history of the country.'
Goodness sakes. Are these posters just so bubble-wrapped in their protective cocoons that they don't know anything about US History?
Our country was forged with blood and steal. This ain't a country for whimps. But I guess we'll find out now what happens when we elect a man who feels it is necessary to apologize for America instead of defend it.
Yup. The one's that's based in reality.
As in the real deal.
Reality check...(sm)
While I do think that Blago needs to go down, I think it should be recognized that this happens in politics ALL THE TIME. That pay to play mentality among politicians is nothing new. I don't think Blago did anything worse than most do. His big mistake was getting caught.
Reality check............ sm
Did you even read the article? It says in part...
"The Obama administration moved on Friday to undo a last-minute Bush administration rule granting broad protections to health workers who refuse to take part in abortions or provide other health care that goes against their consciences."
It goes on to say: "The rule prohibits recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or assist in abortions or sterilization procedures because of their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” "
This sounds to me like providers who refuse to do abortions or provide other health care that goes against their religious/moral/personal convictions will lose protection from "discrimination" (read prosecution) by "recipients of federal money" (read welfare recipients). In other words, if this protection is lifted and a woman goes to a physician who refuses to perfrom an abortion because of moral beliefs, then that woman would be free to sue the doctor for withholding medical care....and who would be more prone to sue a physician than one who is on welfare and always looking for free money?
It has nothing to do with asking a health care professional to perform a procedure or deliver health care outside of his/her realm of education or specialization.
Maybe you should consider jumping into reality
You don't give someone like the Queen of England an IPOD for pete's sake. I'll bet his kids pick it out themselves??? This is the Queen of England. He should have consulted with his staff or someone who is more knowledgeable as to what to give a foreign diplomat, especially someone like the Queen of England. And evidently she already has one. You would have thought he would have checked with someone in his office that is knowledgeable about what a proper gift to give would be. Ya think????? But that goes to show there is no one in his cabinet qualified on such issues. The gift should be a symbol of the US. Sorry but I and evidently many others don't think of IPODs when they think of the US. How juvenile to assume everyone would want an IPOD. Somehow I don't see the Queen bee-boppin to tunes stored on an IPOD. But what's worse...he downloaded all of his speeches. Can we say ewwww! Maybe he should have downloaded some episodes of South Park for her too.
If he could have shown how little he cared about a gift to her he just did. American is filled with many wonderful and talented artists. A very nice piece of art would have been much more appropriate than a friggin IPOD.
I keep seeing posts telling us to "drop ridiculous charges", etc about Obama's b/c. You may not realize this yet, but we are just MTs here voicing our opinion that we do not believe the b/c issue has been resolved (because it hasn't) and that we are glad there are others (judges, lawyers, politicians, etc) who are suing and taking this to the supreme court. However to tell us to "drop the charges" is just too silly. We're not the ones who are going to courts, only voicing our opinions. And last I knew that is what this site is for.
I see many posts with interesting articles written by jounalists and people who have been involved in the case since it all began (and even people outside the country), and those posts are met with such replies all screaming how any article that is posted is not a "credible source". I saw someone give news headlines and was told "show us a credible source". Yet time and time again those same people will come back and cite pro-Obama sites like Factcheck.org, PolitiFact, Huffington Post, etc as credible sources (I even saw someone state Obama's own website as a credible source - had to laugh at that one).
People from all over the country (and the world) are writing articles about this. That means there is something to it. People who are journalists, lawyers, etc, are not going to write articles based on nothing. If it was all based on nothing we'd be seeing more lawsuits filed against the people writing the articles.
On this board I see that the people who want the issue resolved and are looking forward to hearing what the supreme courts have to say, and the outcome of all the other numerous lawsuits are doing just that and voicing their opinions. No need to treat them with disrespect. You can post your own post on why you believe what you do. We are all entitled to our opinions, and I enjoy reading the articles.
So let me just say once more....people on this board - we are just MT'sn not the actual people going to the courts suing Obama, hence we have no "charges to drop". We leave that to more capable hands. We are voicing our opinions here and will continue to do so until the issue has been resolved. Don't tell us it has been resolved otherwise there would be no court cases out there.
Lets all wait and see. And as my grandma used to say to me when I was little "Stop being so silly, you silly goose you".
Well...here is a harsh dose of reality....
yes, he said that...however...he was also endorsed by terrorists (Hamas) and Iran...that in and of itself should be concerning. Why do you think they said that? Perhaps because he also said that if the winds turn ugly, he would stand with the Muslims, and they took him literally? Or perhaps he meant it literally? Who knows what he really means? He lived his way one life up until he ran for President, and then turned away from all that as each issue was brought up, because he knew it would hurt his candidacy. So who IS the real Barack Obama? Do YOU know? That is not dark and foreboding. It is being vigilant, it is asking for trust and respect to be earned...adoration is fine, but please be vigilant as well. For YOUR own good.
Pointing to reality is "fearmongering"
February 8, 2009
IT AIN'T FEARMONGERING IF IT'S TRUE.... Just today, the LA Times has a good report on the unprecedented pressure on state budgets right now -- pressure that will not be alleviated by the federal recovery plan because Sens. Collins & Co. believe state aid isn't stimulative enough. While state shortfalls will lead to painful cuts in practically every state, Nevada is poised to get hit much harder than most.
The Times report noted, for example, that Nevada is "facing the most serious shortfall," and lawmakers will have to cut a striking 38% from its state budget. The impact across the state will be both drastic and unavoidable, most notably in the state's public schools, which will soon face a 15% cut.
It wasn't surprising, then, that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) criticized Senate "centrists" for cutting $40 billion in state aid from the stimulus package, noting that the aid, which appeared in the House version, was intended to stop states from "laying off cops and firefighters, money to help keep teachers going." Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada rejected Frank's comments, labeling the remarks "fearmongering." Indeed, Ensign seemed encouraged by the fact that state budgets, including his own, would have to be slashed, calling the budgets "bloated." He said, "What we should be doing is cutting back."
Got that? As the recession worsens, and government spending is needed to prevent more Americans from losing their jobs, a leading Republican senator whose own state is about to get pummeled, believes it's a good idea to "cut back." I can think of a variety of ways to respond to this nonsense, but I think Matt Yglesias summed things up nicely:
The idea that it would be good for states to cut back in the midst of the recession is stupid. The idea that the recession won't, absent federal aid, lead to layoffs of state employees such as teachers and firefighters is also stupid. But the idea that it's simultaneously true that the reason we should eschew aid is that states need to cut back and also true that it's fearmongering to warn of layoffs is doubleplus stupid. What does Ensign think cutbacks consist of? States will be reducing vital services. The cutbacks will have the immediate impact of reducing the incomes of laid-off families and beneficiaries of state programs. That will have an additional impact on businesses where the newly laid-off teachers and cops used to work.
And the reduced level of service will have its own bad economic impacts. Cutting back public safety budgets will mean fewer cops on the beat. That means more crime which will further reduce economic activity. State cutbacks to child care subsidies will make it harder for people who lose jobs to find and accept new ones. The cutbacks to mass transit services that are happening across the country will introduce additional rigidity into the labor market and reduce patronage of businesses that people are accustomed to reaching via transit. And in the most severe cases, cutbacks in assistant to the severely impoverished will have a decades-long impact on the well-being of their children.
Sen. John Ensign is entirely comfortable with all of these developments -- those dreaded state budgets are "bloated," after all -- but doesn't want anyone to acknowledge this publicly. Pointing to reality is "fearmongering." It's not enough for congressional Republicans to stand in the way of sound economic policy during a crisis; they also want to discourage everyone from talking about it
Sadly, this is reality in my state, also......nm
nm
Let's jump over to reality for a minute....(sm)
What Obama is doing is rescinding the Bush bill. He's not putting out a new law that MAKES people do procedures they consider unethical. So basically if you work in the medical field and you didn't do abortions before this bill, chances are that noone is going to MAKE you do them in the future. I think Bush's bill was more targeted towards support services -- for example people who work at a pharmacy who don't believe in the morning after pill. The point I get from all this is that if you don't want to do abortions, don't work in an abortion clinic. The way you guys are describing it, I could make an orthodontist do brain surgery. Let's try reality for a while.
Reality show, you're right.
I think we oldsters can look at it as being 'voted off the island.'
No, dear, I understand fully what reality is.
Reality is truth. I don't expect you to understand anything concerning the truth, though. People who see reality for what it is are simply just sick and tired of being lied to, whether it's by Dumbya or by those of your ilk. Thank God you don't represent the majority of Americans or we'd be in worse trouble than what we're in now.
Trying to communicate with you is impossible, so I choose not to participate in that endeavor any longer.
It wasn't long ago that I was told by my conservative mtstars buddies that poverty in American was not as bad as we thought. To them poverty only meant you didn't have extra spending money and that the impoverished had color TVs, air conditioning, cars, the whole enchilada. They even went through the spiel of posting articles to support them. It has always been my opinion that poverty is alive and well in America and Katrina has unfortunately revealed this to us all too tragically.
Stories of the grinding poverty among the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans vividly illustrate what many say is a forgotten truth of modern American life — that pockets of desperate poverty still exist in a country of unsurpassed wealth and privilege.
Underscoring that reality, a report by the U.S. Census Bureau (search) released the same week Katrina hit the nation's southeast announced that the national poverty rate rose for the fourth straight year despite continuing growth in production and political rhetoric that the nation's economy is on the upswing.
According to that report, the number of Americans living under the poverty line grew by 1.1 million in 2004 for a total of 37 million people nationwide. That equals 12.7 percent of the total U.S. population. It is the fourth annual increase.
[Poverty] is a problem in America that hasn't gone away — it just went underground for a while, and it shouldn't have, said Sheila Zedlewski, director of the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center.
Through images of the predominantly black residents of New Orleans pleading for help, leaving destroyed homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs, America got a wake-up call according to Sheldon Danziger at the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan.
People are putting these things together, and it will be interesting to see if the attention of the public stays on this, he said. As a country we'd like to think we moved beyond it, but in reality, [poverty] is still a substantial problem.
Others caution against putting too much weight into the new numbers, pointing out that they do not reflect the public assistance low-income individuals and families receive, like Medicaid (search) and welfare, and do not distinguished between truly impoverished individuals and those who are temporarily poor.
The poverty rate began to climb in 2000, the year it hit a 26-year low of 11.3 percent of Americans living under the poverty level, according to U.S Census Bureau figures. That was the lowest point since 1974, when the number was 11.2 percent. The highest point of poverty in recent times was in 1993 at 15.1 percent. Before that, was in 1983, at 15.2 percent.
In 2004, according to the latest study, the poverty rate among African Americans remained the same — at 24.7 percent. Hispanics also saw no change in their poverty rate at 21.9, while whites saw an increase, from 8.2 percent to 8.6 percent. Asian Americans experienced the only decrease, from 11.8 percent to 9.8 percent.
The poverty rate among American families remained at 10.2 percent of the population in 2004. The Office of Budget and Management (search) defines a family of two adults and two children with a median household income of $19,157 or less as living in poverty; or a family of two with no children, making $12,649 a year.
Median household income went unchanged in 2004, according to the census bureau, at $44,389. Blacks continue to have the lowest median income among all ethnic and racial groups, making $30,134 annually.
Wages earned among Americans, however, declined in 2004. For men over 15 working full-time, year round, the real median earnings declined 2.3 percent from 2003, to $40,798. For women with similar work experiences, wages declined by 1 percent to $31,223.
And while unemployment has gone down from 5.5 percent in August 2004 to 4.9 percent in August this year, unemployment among blacks is still the highest in the country, at 9.6 percent in August compared to 4.2 percent for whites and 5.8 for Hispanics.
In New Orleans, where blacks make up 67 percent of the population, 27 percent of the residents are living below poverty level according to a recent study by Total Community Action, Inc. (search), a public advocacy group based in New Orleans.
But some warn that the new census bureau figures may not be an ideal measure, given that they do not take into account the impact of public assistance on a household, or recent tax cuts and child tax credits. Others say the poverty rate had been in steady decline since the early 1990's and see the recent increases as the tail end of the 2000 recession.
It's a bit unfortunate to link the hurricane with the issue of poverty in this country, as though there has been no reduction in poverty since the 1980's, said Rey Hederman, senior policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation.
Since a high point in 1983 the poverty rate for the U.S has been on a decline, aside from the four years following the brief recession in 1989 and the most recent hike, according to the Census Bureau.
Like other economic analysts, Hederman believes the growth in productivity in the U.S economy will eventually produce more jobs and higher incomes for workers.
But so far, Hederman admits, that hasn't happened.
We've got strong productive growth but wages have been relatively stagnant. It's a bit of a paradox as to why it hasn't happened sooner, said Phillip Swagel of the American Enterprise Institute, who blames, in part, the Internet bust six years ago.
Nonetheless, he calls today's economy the most golden era for productivity growth in more than 50 years.
In the short term, it means that firms have been able to produce more without hiring more people, Swagel continued. But in the long term, it will mean that wages and income will go up. It takes time for that relationship to take hold.
But on Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office (search) announced that hurricane's damage to the southeast could reduce national economic growth by nearly a percent at time when forecasters were hoping for a three to four percent increase by the end of the year. It also expects a loss of 400,000 jobs in the labor market.
Some say that inner cities that have never fully recovered from past economic recessions will no doubt be the hardest hit.
I think for the last 25 years, we have had an economy where most of the gains have been concentrated in a small percentage of the workforce, said Danziger. [The] rising tide has not lifted all boats, the economy has shifted so that a smaller portion of the population gets the increases, and the rest is simply happy to have jobs that experience no wage increase or income increases.
According to the recent Total Community Action study, poverty rates have remained stagnant in New Orleans in the last 40 years and even without the near total destruction of the city, have been the highest in the nation.
It would be ironic that it would take a disaster like this to focus [national attention] on this,
Rep. Mel Watt, R-N.C., and member of the Congressional Black Caucus (search), told FOXNews.com, Every area of our lives these disparities exist and we have tried to focus on them all year.
Minority populations left behind in many cities often suffer from bad schools and are at a real disadvantage compared to their suburban middle class and affluent counterparts, say experts.
The poverty differences by education, by race, by central city versus the suburbs, are long standing, said Danziger, who also said that by leaving New Orleans' most disadvantaged, immobile residents behind the hurricane clearly brought that into stark contrast.
The Urban Institute’s Zedlewski admits that over the last several years more resources have been focused on the symptoms of poverty — poor education and healthcare.
If you look at the long haul it is true progress has been made, she said, adding that more needs to be done, particularly in the African American community, regarding single motherhood, the high rate of incarcerated males and investing in adult education.
Swagel, who recently left his job as chief of staff for the White House Council of Economic Advisors (search), believes the current administration has put into place policies — notably tax cuts — that have stimulated growth and are benefiting middle and lower income families the most.
I would say our policies are on the right track, he said. They are working in the right direction, and we should not reverse course when things are improving.
Watt doesn't buy the tax cut stimulus scenario. As soon as this President came in and passing these massive tax cuts, [the poverty rate] turned and went in the opposite direction, he said. This administration is about supporting people of higher income and it makes no bones about it.
Meanwhile, thousands of displaced people from New Orleans are looking for jobs, and trying to begin new lives in places like Houston and Baton Rouge. Poverty advocates hope that in the long term, available education and job training opportunities, as well as the higher wages that have been promised by economists, aren't out of reach.
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